Thursday, February 16, 2012

A Jungle All Up in Here

We accidentally have the beginnings of a jungle in our apartment.

This plant came with us all the way from New Mexico. We had several plants when we lived there, including Minerva (a tomato plant) and Cordelia (chives). They both ended up dying, Minerva having lived a long and fruitful life, Cordelia dying of neglect and my general ignorance about chives. That left us with the above plant, who was named Kuzon or Khaaaaaan! (Its name really depended on whether you asked me or Spousal Unit.)

After a transplant, which Kuzon/Khaaaaan! survived, I discovered that this was actually two plants. At some point, we may have been able to separate them, but their roots are probably so intertwined the separation would kill them both. Kind of like siamese twins joined at the heart.

After getting our new place in the Midwest, Spousal Unit's parents brought us this lovely Christmas cactus. It blossomed happily during the season. Spousal Unit named it Steve. I don't think he had a reason for that. Maybe it just looks like a Steve?... Personally, I can't see it.

My mom gave us an African violet, who wants to be a hoity-toity rose. Look at it: there's even an accessory in its leaves. With such delusions of grandeur, the only proper name for her is

After Spousal Unit's job went from temp to permanent, the temp agency gave him a plant to congratulate him. He brought it home, because a cubicle doesn't get much for light, and he thought it looked unhappy. (It was even more unhappy after he accidentally yanked out a huge swath of leaves by the root, but after replanting, they haven't even faded in color.) The pot is beautiful, too. On closer inspection, though, this is actually three plants in one pot.

Three kinds of leaves: the big, dark ones on the left; small, oval ones on the right; and the spade-shapes at the bottom. Spousal Unit insists this plant has a name, but being that it's three plants, they can't all have the same name. So naming shall wait until they have their own pots and their own identities. ...Which may not happen for another month. We'll see when I decide to put the effort into it.

Our most recent addition is a wee bamboo plant. It fits in the palm of my hand, and has looked kind of sickly ever since we brought it home. The main stalk is a little withered, and much browner than it was before. But I bet it's a lot stronger than it looks. With that in mind I've named it Kaylee, after the character in Firefly.

I also have an amaryllis bulb, which I am waiting to plant until the weather is more springy.

Now all we need is a cat named Shere Khan to stalk through the greenery.

Yep - Kaylee kicked it about two weeks after this post. The kitties have ignored the philodendron, but Titania ate the dragon tree to pieces, so Spousal Unit took it to work! Amazingly, it's making a comeback.